The Parker family’s Christmas is filled with glorious tradition: Mr. Parker battling their Northern Indiana home’s furnace, a Christmas Eve trip to the drug store for a bottle of wine (during which Santa pays a visit to the Parker house), and Mrs. Parker’s “immobilizingly rich” pumpkin pie.

After making this pie for my family this Christmas, it just may become a glorious tradition of our own.

 

Ingredients

1 16-oz. can pumpkin

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 12-oz. can evaporated milk

1/2 cup milk

Pillsbury pie crust

Powdered sugar, for dusting

 

Directions

As I’ve said before, I love the boxed Pillsbury pie crust.  It is very easy to work with and I personally prefer the taste to most homemade recipes.  I also rarely plan far enough ahead with my baking to refrigerate a homemade crust overnight, which is often called for, so I opt for store-bought.  For this recipe, you may use any crust you’d like.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add to your pumpkin mixture.  Add the evaporated milk and 1/2 cup of milk, and mix well.

Line a 9-inch pie tin with your crust and pour in the pumpkin mixture.  I like to place my pie tins on cookie sheets to catch any spillage that happens while the pie cooks.

For my pies, I used the Williams Sonoma Snowflake Pie Crust Cutters to gussy up my pie.  I used the second crust in the Pillsbury box and cut out a few snowflakes to line the edge of the pie.  The cutters are a breeze to use and I received many compliments on them.  I waited for most of my pie to set before putting the snowflakes on the crust because the mixture was too thin to hold them.  They browned beautifully in the 10 or 15 minutes they were in the over for.

Bake your pie for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set.  If your crust begins to brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue to bake.

When my pie was cooled, I dusted it with powdered sugar for a wintry last touch.

 

Enjoy!